Wheel-rail contact modeling considering roughness and strainhardening effects

The roughness effects on the wheel-rail contact problem is an essential topic. In this paper, a new analytical-numerical model has considered assessing the specifications of a rough surface in wheel-rail contact problem. The new model includes asperities and strain hardening effects together. Consideration of these assumptions is more realistic in comparison to similar simplified works. In this study, considering the strain hardening effects, the contact results for wheel-rail material are obtained. The contact characteristics variations versus separation, such as contact force, contact stiffness, and contact area, are shown in semilogarithmic diagrams considering different surface roughnesses and hardening parameters. The new model results show the significant influence of the assumed hypothesis on the contact characteristics.

Keywords:

Wheel rail contact problem , strain hardening , rough surfaces , asperities , contact. properties.